


Worth Keeping: Interlude

by vehlr



Series: AU: A Love Worth Keeping [3]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, Fake Character Death, Fluff and Smut, Grief/Mourning, Vaguely Modern AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-13
Updated: 2015-09-13
Packaged: 2018-04-20 14:27:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4790681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vehlr/pseuds/vehlr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The morning after the storm, Varric makes breakfast.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Worth Keeping: Interlude

He makes breakfast, because what else are you supposed to do when the woman you love returns from the dead?

“Varric?”

“Mm?”

“Do you think – I mean, do you think they will hate me?”

He flips the pancake, considering her words. “No,” he says finally. “I think some people will be angry, but nobody could hate that you're alive. You didn't see 'em at the funeral.”

She shakes her head slightly. “No. But they have all moved on.”

“Not all of us,” he murmurs.

Her chair moves, scraping against the floor as her arms wrap around his shoulders. He smiles as her head rests on his shoulder. “Sorry,” she murmurs.

“All in the past, Seeker. Pancake?”

“Yes please.”

“Bacon?”

She makes a noise as she pulls away. “Pancakes _without_ bacon? Who are you and what have you done with Varric Tethras?”

“Whatever was I thinking?” he drawls, serving up two thick pancakes with a generous portion of the crispy meat. “Please accept this plate as my apology.”

She hums. “You are too kind.” Grabbing the plate off the counter, she slides past him, reaching for the syrup.

“Cassandra -”

His hand catches her hips, pressing her against the counter. Her breath catches, hand stilling as she turns to him, still holding her plate aloft.

“Varric?”

He says nothing for a long time, one arm around her waist and the other gingerly taking the plate from her and setting it down before he pulls her in tightly, lips rough against the exposed skin of her neck.

“Varric -” Her voice is softer, hand cradling his head.

“I missed you,” he breathes. “Maker, I missed you.”

“I know.” She presses her lips to the top of his head. “I know. If I could take it back -”

“Just... promise it was worth it. That you saved the world or some shit.”

She chuckles. “In that sense, it was worth it.”

He smiles, pulling back to look up at her. “That's my Seeker. Big damn hero. Come on, let's eat.” He lets her go with no small amount of reluctance, picking up his food and sitting at the table.

 

*

 

“So what now?” he asks, one finger light as it trails her scar. They had retired to the couch once more, bodies pressed close – he still cannot bear to let her out of reach.

She frowns slightly. “What do you mean?”

“For you, I mean. What are you going to do?”

“Oh. I, ah... I have not really thought about it,” she admits. He prompts her on, and she smiles. “I only knew I had to see you. I have not long been free.”

He lowers his mouth to her neck, soft kisses along the exposed skin. “You make it sound like you were imprisoned.”

“I suppose I was, in a way.” Her eyes close, head tilting to offer him more bare skin. “Mm.”

“You're free now, though.” He traces her pulsepoint with his tongue, and she lets out the softest moan. “No doubt Nightingale will try and drag you back in.”

“I have a – a meeting with her next week. A full debrief, and then – _oh_ -” She falters again as he nips at her ear.

“And then?”

“And then there are reports to file, and I must – _ah_ – I must go and reclaim my – my identity, and -”

He smiles as she writhes underneath his touch. “And?”

She pulls back, panting as she stares up at him.

“ _Varric_.”

“What?”

“What do you want me to do _right now?_ ”

“Huh?”

She smiles slightly. “You cannot expect me to hold an intelligent conversation whilst you are trying to do wonderful things to me! Do you want to talk? We can talk -”

“I want – shit, I want both. I want _everything_.” He cups her face, drinking in the sight of her. “I've not had anything for three years, and now I want all of it. Now.”

“Varric -”

“I need you.” He leans forward, mouth pressed against her jaw. “ _Please_. I need you here.”

She rolls him over, pushing him onto his back as her hand skims down his chest and makes short work of his belt. “Then let me.”

He helps her shove pants away, half-erect as her hand closes around him. “Ah -”

“Hush,” she murmurs, crawling down his body. “Let me.”

“Seeker -”

And then her lips close around his length, and his mind is utterly and completely blank. The moan stutters from his lips, fingers sliding into her hair and gripping tightly. “ _Ah_ – yeah – Seeker, please, I -”

Her mouth is hot around him, everything and nothing like he might have imagined on those dark nights when his own hand was little comfort to his broken heart. Her tongue moves against him, making him cry out. He knows he cannot last, cannot possibly hope to last underneath her attention – her attention, her mouth, _her_ -

“I can't – oh, fuck, Cassandra, _fuck_ -” His fingers tighten, knuckles white as the release tears through him, emptying into her mouth with a pathetic whine.

He trembles as she eases herself from his grip, limbs slack and heart pounding as he lets out a shaky breath. “Cassandra -”

Her lips find his, a hard kiss as her body presses against his. “I've wanted to do that for a long time,” she whispers, cradling his cheek as she smiles.

“Seeker, you can do that to me _anytime_ ,” he drawls, grinning at her laugh. “But fair's fair, I get to return the favour.”

“Later,” she says, sliding over him to rest at his side. “Now, we can talk.”

He rolls to face her. “Not sure my brain's caught up,” he teases.

“So much for a wordsmith,” she retorts, and he laughs as she leans in, a lingering kiss against his lips. “To hear you cry out my name like that... Varric, I want – I want _this_. I want whatever this is, with you. I want more than what we had before.”

“Cassandra, we were never going to be able to go backwards,” he assures her. “Not after a funeral and a letter. No way we could _just_ be friends.”

“But we will still be friends, though.” She shuffles slightly. “I want that too. I want to catch up on your life, to... to eat breakfast and read your drafts and not lose what we had before.”

“I don't know that we can still be _that_ ,” he reasons, “but we can still do all those things. I want those things.” His hand rests at her waist, thumb gently stroking through the material. “I want to get to know you again. I haven't changed that much, but you... you had a whole life.”

She smiles. “You _have_ changed,” she points out. “I can see it in your eyes. And my other life was... not one I am proud of.”

“You don't have to talk about it, if you don't want to. But it changed you, and I want to reacquaint myself. I want to learn then new things, remember the old things, get drunk on cheap wine and find new things to talk about.”

“Varric -”

“I want you, Seeker. I want you to stay in my life, to be a part of my world again.”

“I told you, I am not going anywhere -”

“I know, I know, but... that's what I want. You... any way you'll let me.”

Her hands cup his face, smile soft. “You have me,” she murmurs. “If you – if you want me.”

“I think you vastly underestimate your appeal,” he laughs.

“I am not -”

“Seeker, I want you. How many times do I have to say it?”

She opens her mouth to reply, but Varric captures her in a kiss, tilting her head back as he gently pushes her against the couch.

“This time, let me.”

“Varric, I -”

“Hey.” He lifts her chin, meeting her gaze with a soft smile. “We don't have to do this. I mean, you look like you want to, but we can wait if you're not -”

Her eyes pull away. “I have done – Varric, I have done things... I cannot say that I am deserving of -”

“Cassandra, you _are_. You are the most deserving person I know.” His grin is crooked as he rolls her onto her back, looking down at her. “You probably went through hell and you came back, don't even _try_ and tell me you don't deserve something good. And trust me, Seeker,” he adds, ducking his head to her ear, “it's good.”

She opens her mouth to protest, but his fingers trail over the heat of her trousers, and the only noise that escapes her throat is a whimper, strangled and high.

“Tell me to stop,” he whispers, “and I will.” And his hand slides down underneath fabric, pressing against slick flesh, and her hand fists into the sheets, breath caught.

“Varric –“

“You’re gorgeous, you know,” he continues, voice low and rasped as he teases at her entrance, two fingers circling her wetness. “I always thought so, from the first time I met you. You were like a goddess compared to the other humans I knew.”

One of her hands comes up to his cheek, clumsy and desperate as she swallows. “Varric, I -”

“I wondered, how could such a beautiful woman not have a guy following her around everywhere? How could she not command the attention of every guy in the room? And then after a while, I realised... I was the guy following you around. You had me, always.”

One finger slides into her, slow and steady, and she rolls into the motion. “Oh – oh, Maker, _yes_ -”

“You like that, Seeker?”

“Yes – oh, yes -”

“I want to make you feel like this all the time. That's what I want.” He kisses her neck once more, another finger pressing inside her as the heel of his hand rubs against her clit.

“Varric – oh, Maker, _Varric_ , please, I want – I want -” She bucks, whining, and he shifts inside her.

“Harder?”

“Yes -”

“Like this?”

“ _Oh!_ Yes, yes!”

He smiles, shifting slightly to ease his wrist before plunging into her once more. “The idea that you don't deserve this... Cassandra, I wish you could see yourself the way I see you. You're divine. I want to give you so much more than this, you know. So much more.”

“Please,” she gasps. “Please, I -”

“That's it, Cassandra,” he whispers, “that's it. Let go. Let me see you _shine_.”

And she does, body arching up as she gasps for air and cries out, and he smiles as his name spills from her lips and her heart as his fingers strum her orgasm from her.

“Divine,” he breathes.

She yanks him down, mouth hot against his as she rolls against his body, kissing him hard before falling back with a sigh. “Varric,” she breathes, smiling. “Oh, Varric.”

“Told you it was good,” he murmurs, pulling his hand away, and she laughs.

There is something in the way she smiles up at him that pulls at him, makes his heart swell and his eyes water.

“Shit,” he mutters, wiping at his eyes.

“What is it?”

“Nothing. Just – you, you're alive. Fuck, you're _alive_.” And he grins through the tears, pulling her close. “Not sure I'm over that yet.”

She reaches up, stroking his face lightly. “Then I will have to stick around,” she murmurs, “just to impress this fact upon you.”

He rests his forehead against hers, closing his eyes. “Promise?”

She hums against him. “Promise.”

She is warm and solid and alive, and he believes her.


End file.
